-Caveat Lector- From http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/issue286/item6263.asp > Carpetbagging 101 > by Benjamin Soskis > Thursday, September 02, 1999 > Comments: 26 posts > > > > <Picture: This Issue's TOC> > <Picture: IC Archives> > <Picture: Sign Up to the IC Mailing List> > <Picture: Related IC articles> > Hillary, Come Home : The Beltway Man shares his words of Washington wisdom with > the first lady. > > Hillary for Senate: An Arkansas Perspective : Suzi Parker examines Rudy > Giuliani's trip south and the first lady's bid to move north. > > It's Payback Time for New York Republicans : Joe Dolman reminds Rudy Giuliani of > the political dangers lurking within his own GOP. > > > > <Picture> > <Picture> > <Picture> > > > Search > > <Picture: Previous Article><Picture: Next Article><Picture><Picture>Among the > more pointed barbs cast at first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in her potential > Senate bid has been that of "carpetbagging." > > To some extent, the charge owes its potency to the great distances the accusers > are willing to travel to make it stick. For New York City Mayor Rudolph > Giuliani, that distance is some 1,050 miles; last month, in a perverse reversal > of the first lady’s career itinerary, he journeyed to Little Rock, Ark., > collecting money from sympathetic Republicans and highlighting the > preposterousness of a non-native seeking office in a foreign state. > > But for all of Giuliani's antics, the greatest strength of the carpetbagger > charge is its history. The nation has a long tradition of denouncing, in > President Woodrow Wilson's words, that class of "unscrupulous men ... men not > come to be citizens but come upon an expedition of profit." > > Before Clinton parries Giuliani's accusations, and while she is in a "listening" > mood, she should consider the stories of the original carpetbaggers. Their > successes and failures can give her some sense of the pitfalls involved in their > enterprise and, perhaps more importantly, help explain America's fascination > with denouncing them. > > Northern success in Arkansas > > The vitriol, and the term carpetbagger itself, comes from the tumultuous days > after the Civil War when many Northern Republicans tilted Horace Greeley's > famous counsel on its axis and went South, taking, supposedly, all their worldly > possessions in a carpetbag. > > Plenty of opportunistic vultures made the trip, looking to prey upon the carcass > of a devastated South. But just as many were motivated by nobler ideals, > dedicating themselves to uplifting the newly freed slaves and reunifying the > country. Nonetheless, Southern Democrats tended to lump all carpetbaggers > together in that first category, and as Reconstruction fizzled, they became easy > targets on which to blame its failure. > > Even so, Clinton might learn something from the likes of Powell Clayton, a > native Pennsylvanian elected governor of Arkansas in 1868. Though a > carpetbagger, he had quite a connection to his new state; as a cavalry > commander, he won a series of stunning Union victories there, losing his right > arm in the process. Liking what he saw, Clayton stayed after the war to try his > hand at cotton planting and was lured into politics by admiring neighbors. > > During his tenure as governor, Clayton oversaw a period of impressive financial > growth and population increase, advocating education and railroad construction, > and battling the Ku Klux Klan. Pushed out by fellow Republicans, he left office > in 1871 but soon after won a seat in the Senate, where he served for six years, > and later became ambassador to Mexico. > > Clayton did not address the stigma of the interloper until his final years, when > he spent much of his time composing a comprehensive defense of his term as > governor against revisionist attacks on all carpetbagger politicians. In The > Aftermath of the Civil War in Arkansas, Clayton demonstrated that the majority > of his state’s carpetbaggers came south not for personal gain but because of a > genuine affection for their new homes. > > “With a very few exceptions,” he wrote, “the Northern men who settled in > Arkansas came there with the federal Army and … were so much impressed with its > genial climate and great natural resources as to cause them … to make it their > future home." > > One could waste countless hours speculating on the first lady's actual > motivations, but Clayton's apology would suggest that Clinton should work toward > cultivating a more convincing affection for New York. No one is suggesting that > she sacrifice a limb, but donning a Yankees cap during an occasional photo > opportunity might not suffice. > > Both hated and admired > > <Picture: Clinton should cultivate convincing affection for NY> > Clinton should cultivate > convincing affection for NY > Perhaps even more instructive for the first lady is the career of Albion Winegar > Tourgée, an Ohio lawyer who moved to Greensboro, N.C., after the Civil War. > Although Tourgée failed to gain a seat in Congress, he remained in the state 14 > years, serving as a judge and pension agent. > > One of the more radical and self-righteous of Republicans, Tourgée favored > increased spending for social services, a shifting of the tax burden onto the > shoulders of wealthy Southerners and black suffrage, none of which ingratiated > him with local Democrats. > > The Democratic governor, Jonathan Worth, branded Tourgée a “vile wretch,” and a > man “of most detestable character.” The North Carolina press, largely > Democratic, also took their shots, attacking him as a “jackass,” “the meanest > Yankee that has ever settled among us,” “a veritable monster ” and “the most > thoroughly hated man in North Carolina.” > > And yet beneath all the abuse lurked a sort of grudging admiration. “Calmly, > tenaciously, and boldly throughout the darkest of those years, he persisted in > the advocacy of ideas wholly and offensively obnoxious to our people,” one > Southern Democrat wrote. Another of Tourgée's native neighbors later reminisced, > “He was sort of an ogre, but even then we admired him for his courage and > wondered at it.” > > Edmund Wilson noted this admiration and suggested it was due to the fact that > “in his insolence, his independence, his readiness to accept a challenge, his > recklessness and ineptitude in practical matters, his romantic and chivalrous > view of the world in which he was living,” Tourgée was actually quite Southern. > Indeed, Tourgée embraced the carpetbagger designation with the defiant panache > the Rebels bestowed on their own lost cause, naming his Greensboro mansion > “Carpet-Bag Lodge.” > > If Wilson’s theory is correct, then it would seem that the accusations of > carpetbagging were loudest, and the threat was perceived as most dire, when the > interloper became most familiar. Perhaps Clinton can take some comfort from > this: The more vigorous Giuliani’s charges, the more she might fit in. > > The carpetbagger's motto > > But the first lady should listen on, for like all lost causes, Tourgée’s came to > a bitter end. After numerous judicial and political setbacks, Tourgée grew > disillusioned with his extended sojourn and sadly accepted the inevitability of > Reconstruction’s failure. Realizing he could do nothing more for the state, he > returned north in 1879 to a profitable and gratifying career as a writer, > lecturer and political advocate, eventually moving to a downtown New York > mansion, just off Broadway. (Note to President Clinton: there is life after > politics). > > Tourgée sought a way to articulate and understand his bitterness and, a > naturally literary man, chose to fictionalize it. That same year, he published > an anonymous, vaguely autobiographical novel about a Northerner’s political > career in North Carolina and his eventual disappointment by the South’s refusal > to accept progressive reforms. > > Likened to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the book was an instant success and by the end of > 1880 had sold more than 90,000 copies. The name of the novel: A Fool’s Errand. > Maybe Hillary should pick up a copy and read it. > > Benjamin Soskis is a reporter at the New Republic. >From http://www.nydn.com/1999-03-09/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-21923.asp > Tuesday, March 09, 1999 > > > State GOP Seeks > To Bar Senate Run > > > ALBANY > > <Picture>n a symbolic swat at First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, state > Republicans have introduced a bill that would block her from running for the > U.S. Senate. > > Only candidates who have lived in New York for five years would qualify to run > for Congress under the bill — long-shot legislation whose prime sponsor concedes > is going nowhere in the Democrat-led Assembly. > > Still, the anti-carpetbagging bill offers a chance to carp about federal laws > that require candidates to live in New York by Election Day. Clinton, who has > lived in Arkansas and Illinois, has said she is considering entering the race > for retiring Sen. Daniel Moynihan's seat. > > "This state is so diverse," said the bill's main sponsor, Assemblyman David > Townsend (R-Oneida). "You can't come in here and think you represent the > interests of New York after only being here for the length of time it takes to > run a campaign." > > Even if the bill cleared the Assembly, some Senate Republicans questioned > yesterday whether it's legal for a state Legislature to dictate who can run for > national office. > > State Democratic Chairwoman Judith Hope said she welcomes the bill. > > "The Republicans in Albany are just like the Republicans in Washington, D.C.," > she said. "They think people elected them to get the Clintons. If they keep it > up, they're going to guarantee, No. 1, that she runs and, No. 2, that she'll > win." > > Tracey Tully A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your common sense." --Buddha + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." --- Ernest Hemingway + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
